


happy halloween

by nightsickness



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Bullying, Family, Family Feels, Gen, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2014-11-01
Packaged: 2018-02-23 10:53:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2544941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightsickness/pseuds/nightsickness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Halloween isn't terrible to him, now. It's just. People make him nervous. And there's a lot of people that night going around knocking on his door and ringing the doorbell and it's really just too much for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	happy halloween

Tyler Joseph is _not_ a loner. He just... didn't like hanging out with people. Actually, he didn't like _people_ in general. But that doesn't mean he's a loner.

Tyler enjoys a limited number of things. He likes music, basketball, and Halloween. Everything else is so small in comparison that he doesn't even consider them interests.

But, ever since Tyler's bullying worsened at the beginning of high school - _really?_ Bullying in high school? That's such a middle school activity; people really need to grow up at some point - he just... kind of _stopped_ being interested in the latter.

Halloween isn't terrible to him, now. It's just. People make him nervous. And there's a lot of people that night going around knocking on his door and ringing the doorbell and it's really just too much for him.

He remembered when he used to have fun. The most fun was always trick-or-treating. He would go with his siblings every year, and sometimes he'd bring a friend. They'd walk for hours and come back late, spending the rest of the night comparing candy. His teeth always suffered as a result, but it was the most fun he'd ever had.

Now, not so much. During his freshman year, he'd made the mistake of going trick-or-treating - fifteen is _not_ too old at all, okay - and his sister had totally left him behind. He went looking for her, but he hadn't been able to find her before a couple of his bullies found him. They'd left him with a black eye, a broken nose, and a sprained wrist.

Ever since then, he'd been too afraid to go to any sort of social event. He's seventeen now, and even though it had happened two years ago, he was kind of traumatized by it, and he didn't ever want to risk that happening again.

The worst part wasn't even the injuries. It was the fact that he had been too vulnerable and, and _weak_ \- he hated that word, _god_ \- to fight back. He had to just let him have their way with him until they were satisfied enough to leave. It sickened him to think about and he swore he'd never let it happen again.

That's how he'd gotten into basketball. Turns out, having both your mom and dad coaches of high school basketball has its perks. He'd already had the gene, he supposed, but they really helped him step up his game. It also kept his bullies away. Well, most of them.

So, tonight is the night of Halloween. Also known as one of his most dreaded holidays. It always freaked him out and made him think he'd get beat up again, despite the fact that he was always safely locked away in his room that night.

Most of his logic is weird, but it makes sense to him. You can never be too safe.

Maddy, his little sister, was currently bugging him about going with her, since she didn't have anyone else to go with. It should have annoyed him that he was the last person she'd go to in a time of need, but this was his little sister he was talking about. So.

"I just don't want to go," Tyler almost whined. "I can go next year."

"There's _always_ next year," Maddy agreed, smiling almost sadly. "Until there's not. So, come. You'll have fun! And if you don't, we can go home. You'll be fine!"

When Maddy saw that Tyler wasn't giving in, she sighed.

"Tyler, you need to learn how to have fun. The past is the past. It's not coming back, unless you let it. And even then..."

Silence crept in as Maddy waited for her older brother to reply. He didn't, so she continued.

" _Please_ , come. It won't be the same without you. I promise, nothing will happen."

"...okay," he finally relented. A huge smile broke out across Maddy's face. She tugged his arm excitedly, pulling him towards the door while chattering excitedly about their plans for the night. He couldn't help but smile at her delighted appearance, even though he was freaking out on the inside.

-

The weird thing is, he actually had fun. Nothing weird happened, and getting a crapload of candy in one night is always great. Tyler didn't want to admit this, but he was really happy he had decided to go after all.

"Hey," he said later that night when he saw Maddy in the kitchen. Maddy looked up and waved dispassionately before looking back at her phone. "I just wanted to say thanks. You didn't have to bug me into going trick-or-treating with you, but you did, and that's really cool. You can be cool sometimes, I guess. So, thanks for that." Maddy smiled and set her phone down.

"You're welcome, I guess," she said, rolling her eyes at the end. "Whatever," she shrugged, "you needed to get out of that shell of yours, even if it was for just a few hours. I hope you had fun."

"I... did," Tyler admitted. "So, yeah. Thanks again. And... this is getting weirdly personal and gross, now, so I need to leave. Good night."

"Good night, loser!" Maddy called out after him. He smiled to himself as he flopped down on his bed and fell asleep the fastest he'd ever been able to.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something for Halloween :) Sorry about the boring title.


End file.
